• Basic Info
• Top Questions
• Clinical Info
• Interactions

Stability

Storage

Oral

Tablets

Tight, light-resistant containers at 20–25°C.

Solution

5-mg/5-mL solution: Tight, light-resistant containers at 20–25°C.

10-mg/mL concentrate: Tight, light-resistant containers at 15–30°C.

Parenteral

Injection

15–30°C. Do not freeze; protect from light.

Compatibility

Parenteral

Solution Compatibility

Manufacturer states that metoclopramide hydrochloride is stable when diluted with dextrose 5%, sodium chloride 0.9%, dextrose 5% in sodium chloride 0.45%, Ringer’s, or lactated Ringer’s injection; sodium chloride 0.9% is preferred diluent because metoclopramide hydrochloride is most stable in this solution.

Drug Compatibility

Actions

• Complex pharmacology; mechanism(s) of action not fully elucidated; principal effects involve the GI tract and CNS.
• At low concentrations in vitro, metoclopramide increases the resting tone and phasic contractile activity of GI smooth muscle.
• Increases lower esophageal sphincter pressure.
• Accelerates gastric emptying and intestinal transit from the duodenum to the ileocecal valve by increasing the amplitude and duration of esophageal contractions, resting tone of the lower esophageal sphincter, and amplitude and tone of gastric (especially antral) contraction and by relaxing the pyloric sphincter and the duodenal bulb, while increasing peristalsis of the duodenum and jejunum.
• Unlike nonspecific cholinergic-like stimulation of upper GI smooth muscle, the stimulant effects of metoclopramide on GI smooth muscle coordinate gastric, pyloric, and duodenal motor activity.
• Precise mechanism of antiemetic action is unclear. Directly affects medullary chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ), apparently by blocking dopamine receptors; increases CTZ threshold and decreases sensitivity of visceral nerves that transmit impulses from GI tract to vomiting center; and enhances gastric emptying (believed to minimize stasis that precedes vomiting). Also may inhibit serotonin (5-HT₃) receptors (at relatively high doses).
• Produces varying degrees of sedation and lethargy.
• May cause extrapyramidal reactions and worsen symptoms in patients with parkinsonian syndrome.